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Thursday, April 22, 2010

Happy Earth Day! I do hope you are able to get outside today. So, I wanted to tell you about Sprig Toys. It all began at the Type-A Mom conference last September where these smiley people were displaying some cute eco-friendly toys. I sauntered over to the table, spent some time talking to them, touching the toys and envisioning how excited the kids would be to see these. Then they sent me home with Rex Jungle the dinosaur and two of the guides.

The kid were crazy about these toys and I think you will be as well. So, why talk about Sprig on Earth Day? Well, these toys required no batteries (yes, that means kid-powered toys), earth-friendly materials and paint-free.

I bet you are wondering What are they made of? They are a bio-composite made from recycled plastics (usually polypropylene) and reclaimed wood. The company tries to incorporate wood so they can use less plastic.

Now, you are thinking, Why are there no facial features? After noting that so many toys recalls were due to lead paint issues, they decided to leave the faces plain. At first, I thought the kids would be bothered by this and although, they did notice and ask why the faces were blank, they were happy with my reply 'so you can use your imagination'. This way, little people/guides can be happy or sad or grouchy. My kids are currently being taught by daddy to roll their eyes (why must he?) so I expect to hear that the sprig people are as well.

This company goes eco-friendly beyond the toy itself: The packaging is minimal (no annoying ties and plastic clam shells) and is made from recycled materials. In addition, the product boxes are printed with soy or water based inks as well as their product brochures that are printed on FSC certified paper with high recycled content. And finally, they are even recyclers to the max in their corporate offices and some even bike to work. Speaking of their offices and great people, feel free to reach out to the company via Twitter @kimatsprig

We have a great time playing with the Dolphin Boat Explorer in the tub and next up for us this spring will be to order The trucks!In addition, I wanted to share that another favorite imagination inspiring toy: our Wooden Blocks. Although they are not made of reclaimed wood, we have used them for three years now and I expect we will for three more. I feel good about that because, it is one less plastic toy being tossed into a land-fill at the end of a few months.